Mugabe declares war
on MDC after mass protestBy Peta Thornycroft in Harare(Filed:
12/04/2003)

President Robert Mugabe's security forces have launching
a purge of hisopponents since mass protests against his regime last month,
Zimbabwe's mainopposition party said yesterday.

The Movement for
Democratic Change said two senior opposition leaders wereamong more than 500
people arrested.

A further 250 people have been taken to hospital and
scores beaten andtortured in police custody, it said. Welshman Ncube, the
party'ssecretary-general, said: "The attempt is to scare and intimidate the
MDCleadership.

"The government is labouring under the mistaken belief
that, because eachand every one of us is facing a charge or facing
incarceration, the partywill retreat from its obligation to organise mass
protests against thisdictatorship. Zanu-PF has learned nothing though
history. They may postponeit, but eventually freedom will come."

The
number two in the MDC, and leader of the opposition in parliament,Gibson
Sibanda, was arrested in Bulawayo and is facing a 20-year-jailsentence under
Zimbabwe's notorious Public Order and Security Act.

He has been charged
with undermining the constitution by inciting a two-daygeneral strike last
month which paralysed commerce and industry.

After eight days in
detention, he was released on record bail of about£11,000. On the day of his
release, the opposition's chief spokesman PaulThemba-Nyathi, was arrested as
he attended the court hearing. MrThemba-Nyathi was later released without
charges.

While Mr Mugabe's Zanu-PF party continues its crackdown against
theopposition, its attacks on white farmers continue.

Alan Parsons,
44, returned to his farm in Karoi, 80 miles north of Harareearlier this week
to collect possessions left behind when he abandoned hishome last year
during violence last year.

He went with a court order, under police
protection and with a courtofficial, to force the release of his farm
equipment, although much of ithad already been stolen.

A friend and
fellow farmer, John Coast, also 44, who accompanied him, saidyesterday they
were attacked and beaten by ruling party thugs, and had toflee. A policeman
who accompanied them, and the court official, were alsobeaten.

Mr
Parsons is still in hospital in Harare. His wife, Jenny, was attacked bythe
same mob three months ago, and police have now arrested its leader andnine
others.

Ngoni Siveregi, for the State, told
the court that on Monday, theChipangano members, who confessed to being Zanu
PF activists, went toShawasha Flats and ordered the 11 tenants to vacate the
flats because theywere "sell-outs".

She said the tenants defied the orders and the group, acting in
commonpurpose, forcibly removed the tenants' property and heaped it outside
theblock.

Simultaneously, the
Chipangano members force-marched the complainantsto an open space outside
the flats where they ordered them to sit next totheir heaped belongings, the
State alleged.

The court was told that the
group then assaulted the tenants usingvarious weapons which included sticks,
iron bars and stones fired
fromcatapults.

Throughout the night,
the vigilantes allegedly held the tenants incaptivity until 6am when the
police were alerted of the situation by one ofthe tenants who had
escaped.

While they were being held
hostage, the tenants were prohibited fromstanding up or
moving.

All the time, they were being
assaulted, the court heard.

In their
written submissions to the court opposing bail, the policesaid they needed
two weeks to complete their investigations because therewere still
outstanding cases that needed
verification.

The police further said they
needed time to check in their records ifthe accused had previous
convictions.

"They are facing serious
allegations and they are likely to interferewith investigations since they
are leaders of Chipangano group of youths,"the police
said.

"The group is known to have
terrorised residents of Mbare under theguise of Zanu
PF.

"The same group is known to have been
harassing commuters fromKuwadzana at Mbare
Musika."

Eyewitnesses said the group
accused them of being MDC supporters.

"They demanded to know why we remained defiant by not submitting toZanu PF,"
one of the affected tenants said.

"They
ordered us to remove all our property because, according tothem, we were no
longer entitled to occupy the flats.

"The
youths accused us of continuously refusing to attend Zanu PFmeetings yet
Zanu PF built the flats."

MDC Members of
Parliament have accused government officials and ZanuPF activists of
thwarting development projects they would have initiated intheir
constituencies.

The MPs also complained
that influential local leaders such ascouncillors, district administrators
and mayors boycott their meetings.

"The
problem has deteriorated to the extent of creating barriers forMPs," said
Abedinico Bhebhe, the MP for Nkayi.

They
were speaking at a two-day workshop organised by the PublicAffairs and
Parliamentary Support Trust (PAPST) in
Mutare.

"When I was elected into office I
wanted to work with children becausethe constituency had one of the highest
failure rates," Bhebhe said, "butwhen I approached Aeneas Chigwedere, the
Minister of Education, SportsCulture he was not
co-operative."

Bhebhe said an attempt to
acquire an ambulance for the districthospital in the constituency was also
thwarted by Zanu PF activists.

"When I
went to the hospital to get a supporting letter, the hospitaladministrator
was chased away from the hospital," Bhebhe
said.

He said soldiers were deployed to
man the hospital thereafter.

Zanu PF
activists and government officials again thwarted anotherproject, which was
meant to provide clean water, he said.

Bethel Makwembere, the MP (MDC) for Mkoba in Gweru said: "Ourpolitical
counterparts need to be educated that these developmentalworkshops are
non-political so that we can get a positive response
fromthem."

Sydney Mukwecheni, the MP
for Mutare South (MDC), said: "When we callfor the meetings our political
foes claim that they would want to beconsulted first," Mukwecheni said.
"Normally they respond negatively."

But
Jorum Gumbo, the MP for Mberengwa West and Zanu PF's chief whip,said he had
not encountered such problems in his
constituency.

"These workshops are not
political. I don't see any difficulties incalling people for such meetings,"
said Gumbo.

Mike Mataure, PAPST director,
said the workshops were non-partisan.

He
urged MPs to work towards the development of the
country.

"We don't discriminate whether
one is Zanu PF or MDC, we consider one's developmental leadership in the
constituency," Mataure said.

PAPST's
objective is to empower and enhance the leadership capacity ofelected and
appointed representatives in their respective
constituencies.

THE Grain Marketing Board with the
assistance of the police, has setup roadblocks along most major highways
leading into cities and major townscountrywide, impounding maize grain
destined for other markets.

The move is
aimed at forcing producers to sell their grain to theparastatal. Many
unsuspecting travellers bringing maize grain from the ruralareas this week
had their produce impounded at the
roadblocks.

Heaps of bags of maize that
had been impounded by the police and GMBinspectors were seen stacked beside
the road at two roadblocks at Mabvukuand Kuwadzana in
Harare.

A similar situation was observed
in Gweru along the Mvuma-Gweruhighway and in Masvingo at Chartsworth
turn-off and in the Masvingocommercial farming area. The GMB/police
operations got underway in Masvingoand Gweru on
Thursday.

A GMB loss control officer, who
refused to be identified said theparastatal would continue monitoring the
movement of grain in the country.

She said
the GMB would pay for all the grain
impounded.

"Those who have their maize
impounded should give correct details tothe GMB inspectors so that we are
able to make follow-ups and pay them,"
shesaid.

Communal farmers have begun
harvesting their crops. According to theGMB it is an offence for a farmer
not to deliver his maize to the boardwithin 14 days of
harvesting.

"Movement of maize and
maize-meal from one specified area to anotherwithout a permit is illegal,"
the board warned the public in a statementlast
month.

"The GMB reminds farmers and
members of the public that failure tocomply would lead to
prosecution."

However, police
spokesperson, Inspector Andrew Phiri, refused tocomment saying he does not
give interviews to The Daily News.

Bruce
Mutumba, one of the affected people, said the police impoundedthree bags of
maize from him at Mabvuku turn-off on Wednesday as he returnedfrom his rural
home in Rusape.

"The move by the GMB is
not justified because I did not intend to sellthe maize but had brought it
for my family's consumption," he said.

THE relatives of one of the two
MDC MPs who were arrested on Wednesdayhave been detained after they went to
give food to the two legislators atBulawayo Central Police
Station.

The police yesterday refused to
send to court MPs Jealous Sansole(Hwange East) and David Mpala (Lupane) who
continued to be held despite theexpiry of the stipulated maximum 48 hours
within which detained persons mustbe brought to
court.

Their lawyers only managed to
locate them late last night. Sansole wasdetained at Hillside Police Station
while Mpala was at Entumbane
PoliceStation.

One of the lawyers,
Lucas Nkomo, yesterday said police detained MhazhaSansole the MP's brother
and Cleopas Chirwa who had gone to give the two MPsfood at Bulawayo Central
Police Station.

Nkomo said the police told
him that he should leave them while they dotheir
work.

He said he was making an urgent
application to the High Court to havethem
released.

The arrested pair was in the
company of the MPs when they werearrested as they drove from Joshua Mqabuko
Nkomo Airport.

Nkomo said the police had
abandoned the previous charges in which theywere saying Sansole had been
found in possession of ballot box-sealingmaterial and
spikes.

He said the police were now
accusing Sansole of being found inpossession of a booklet with the names of
Zanu PF youths in Hwange.

Nkomo said the
police were also alleging that they had found ahand-written letter
threatening the Zanu PF youths.

There was
no specific charge levelled against Mpala.

Several MDC MPs have been arrested over the past two weeks in acrackdown
that followed President Mugabe's order to the State securityagents to
"crush" the MDC.

Suspected Zanu
PF youths camped at a base about 500m away from thescene of the incident
towards the 29-30 March parliamentary by-election wonby Nelson Chamisa, the
MDC national youth chairman.

"They visited
my tuckshop on Wednesday and made threats," he said. "Imade a report number
OB1692/03 at Kuwadzana Extension Police Base but noaction was taken against
the known Zanu PF militants."

Yesterday,
the police visited the scene of the arson attack andrecorded statements from
Guzha. A police constable was interviewing Guzhawhen this reporter visited
the place.

Guzha was the provincial
president of the Zimbabwe National StudentsUnion for Manicaland in 1998-99
during his time at Mutare Technical
College.

The police at Kuwadzana Extension
Police Base confirmed receiving areport about the attack on Guzha's
tuckshop. Inspector Wilbert Mashuro, theofficer-in-charge at Kuwadzana 2
Police Station visited the scene of
theattack.

Two compressors worth about
$400 000 each were burnt during the attackincluding the butchery scale worth
about $1,5 million.

Langton Murwisi, 22,
who usually slept in the tuckshop, yesterday saidthe incident occurred
around 10 pm.

He said he was coming from
his house when he saw the tuckshop on fire"When I drew closer, I realised
that the ridges of the roof had been moved.We only managed to pull the
refrigerator away from the fire."

Zanu PF supporters have also accused the MDC of attacking
itssupporters.

Meanwhile, seven MDC
youths who were arrested on Tuesday for allegedlyplanning to overthrow
President Mugabe's government, were on Thursdayreleased from Harare Central
Police Station without charges.

This was
despite accusations by the police that the group was found inpossession of
weapons of war to cause terror and rob
residents.

Their lawyer, Alec Muchadehama,
has alleged that the MDC activistswere severely
tortured.

More than 200 MDC supporters
including MPs have so far been arrestedand others allegedly tortured in
custody following the two-day stayawaycalled by the party last month to
press President Mugabe to respect humanrights and restore the rule of law in
the country.

Following
the continued clampdown on the opposition since thesuccessful two-day mass
action on 18 and 19 March, there can be no doubtthat the situation in this
country is far from normal.

This has to be
in spite of whatever information South AfricanPresident Thabo Mbeki and his
Nigerian counterpart, Olusegun Obasanjo, haveto the
contrary.

These two leaders, both
suspiciously latent or closet dictators, aretrying to make the rest of the
world believe the rule of law is alive andwell in Zimbabwe. They rush to
defend themselves by stating they areprotecting the sovereignty of Zimbabwe
and are hedging against internationalinterference in the internal affairs of
a so-called democratic country.

The list
of MDC MPs who have been arrested and continue to be arrestedis growing
longer by the day. The latest are Jealous Sansole (Hwange East)and David
Mpala (Lupane) who were arrested on Wednesday following therelease of that
party's spokesman, Paul Themba-Nyathi (Gwanda
North).

The police were compelled to
release Nyathi after the High Courtdeclared his detention illegal. He had
spent nearly four days in policecustody without charge. He was being held
under the draconian Public Orderand Security Act (POSA) on allegations of
organising the two-day massaction.

Nyathi's arrest followed hard on the heels of the incarceration ofGibson
Sibanda (Nkulumane), the MDC's vice-president and leader of theopposition in
Parliament.

More than 200 MDC supporters
and legislators have been arrested sincethe successful mass action. The MPs
had stiff bail conditions imposed ontheir release. Sibanda, for instance,
was released on $1 million bail andordered to surrender his passport to the
Clerk of the Criminal Court.

These arrests
appear to have no justification at all and most peoplesee their prime
purpose as the psychological torture and intimidation of theopposition
leaders. They are locked up before investigations into theallegations
against them are completed, which is done only in thosecountries where the
strict application of rule of law is selective
ornon-existent.

The seemingly spurious
charges against the MDC leaders and theirsupporters always hinge on inciting
the people to participate in mass actionto topple the highly unpopular
Mugabe regime.

Mbeki and Obasanjo need to
be reminded that in a normal democraticsociety the police do not arrest and
detain people without first completinginvestigations into the allegations
against them.

In a democratic society,
suspects have their rights read to thembefore being arrested. They are told
that they have a right to remainsilent, and that anything they may say can
and will be used against them ina court of law during
trial.

This is never done by the security
agents of a government on whosebehalf Mbeki and Obasanjo are fighting
against the rest of the
world,virtually.

Things cannot be
normal in a country where elected leaders arearrested and detained while
their whereabouts remain privy only to
theircaptors.

Even serial killers have
rights. They can be arrested and detained,but they will still have the right
to legal representation. Theirwhereabouts will also be common knowledge to
their relatives, friends andlegal representatives. This is not the case
here.

It seems the law enforcement agents
in this country are a law untothemselves. They ensure whoever they detain on
trumped-up charges under POSAare incarcerated in places which only State
agents have knowledge of andaccess to. This seems more like the State agents
themselves are guilty ofpreventing and hindering the course of
justice.

Mbeki and Obasanjo must know such
disregard for the rule of lawoccurred in their own countries, respectively,
during the apartheid era andduring the military
regimes.

In Zimbabwe, there is continued
and wanton trampling of human rightsand that the two latest victims of that
repression are being detainedincommunicado speaks volumes of this regime's
lack of willingness to turnover a new leaf.

Doris Lessing is a towering
literary figure. Her classical novel, TheGrass is Singing, helped me to
understand how whites think and behave inrelation to blacks more than all
the social interaction that I had had
withthem.

She inspires me. That was
why I read her recent contribution to TheDaily News about President Mugabe
with avid interest.

The picture of Robert
Mugabe that she painted in her contribution wasdark and depressing. It is
understandable. It is only an indication ofdifferent people's sometimes
conflicting views of the man.

Perhaps, the
different perceptions of the man have to do with theposition where one is
standing, looking at him.

I lived with
Mugabe for over three months, eating from the same pot,perched on top of the
same hut to thatch it, slept in the same room at aremote base called
Saguranca in central Mozambique in 1975, and the man leftsuch a deep
impression on my mind - nothing will erase
it.

I can already see people like Iden
Wetherell raising their eyebrowssaying, "O-oh o-oh, there goes that Zanu PF
apologist", but for me, theimportant thing about what I write is that it is
honest and I believe it.

Mugabe arrived
one night at the secluded Frelimo base accompanied byEdgar Tekere and three
other people I no longer remember and found the placein
turmoil.

Earlier that evening, the base
commander, Kanyawu, had read aninstruction from "above" to send the 40 or so
of us back to Rhodesia becauseour colleagues in Zambia had killed Herbert
Chitepo.

For a moment, the arrogant
Frelimo commander was confused by therespect we accorded Mugabe and Mugabe
lost his composure, but he quicklyregained it and threatened to beat him up,
whoever he was, if he tried toundermine his
authority.

After countless reassurances
and apologies that almost took the wholenight, an uneasy truce was reached
when Mugabe declared we would rather dieat the hands of Frelimo than give
the Rhodesians the immeasurable pleasureof killing
us.

Thereafter, he quickly organised
political lessons for us that hepersonally
conducted.

On the other hand, Tekere was
always the wild and unpredictable fellowwho laughed very easily and stood at
the edge of the class as Mugabe took usthrough the lessons: the history of
Zimbabwe, the growth of Africannationalism, the reasons for resorting to an
armed confrontation with IanSmith and the painful shortcomings of the
Kenneth Kaunda-John Vorster-drivendetente exercise that had virtually ground
the war to a standstill and wehad all become victims
of.

And throughout all that rather
academic process, there was not asingle book, a single piece of paper, a
single pen.

What I found quite fascinating
about him was how he had his facts atthe tips of his fingers. But that was
before the hunger and the hopelessnesssneaked
in.

Once the horrible twins arrived,
driving us mad, Mugabe moved aroundcalmly, urging us to keep fixing our eyes
on tomorrow because no one knewthe promises it held. He was an extraordinary
man.

The man was obsessed with the issue
of land.

And, unlike what Lessing said was
foolish on his part to promise landto everyone, there was no way he could
avoid it because it was the basisupon which the war was fought. The majority
of Zimbabweans are rural livingdirectly off the land and their foremost
reason for fighting the war was sothat they could have adequate land to grow
crops and graze their animals.

I remember
one afternoon as our section (the late Gaylord Hlatshwayowas the commander
and Mugabe was an ordinary member of the section) batheddown a small stream
outside the base. He told us about the possibility ofnationalising land to
make it more readily available to the people. Evenamidst all the confusion
today, I do not believe by people he meant hisrelatives, friends and
cronies.

Perhaps it is pointless to
mention such distant and almost obscurerecollections, but for me, this is
the man behind the monster the world ismade to
see.

Because Frelimo was still a
transitional government and the Portuguesestill in control, very little
supplies trickled to the remote base and therewas hunger. We got virtually
all the food from the villages in exchange ofour personal items. First, it
was the wristwatches, then the jerseys and thejackets and then the shoes,
but soon there was nothing left to give
away.

Gilbert, I don't know whether he
eventually survived the war because Ihave not seen him since, exchanged his
shirt and for two days he walked withhis tummy exposed until someone gave
him his vest.

The teacher, for that was
how we affectionately called Mugabe, had abeautiful pair of maroon corduroy
trousers and jacket and one day, thejacket disappeared. Rumour had it that
Gilbert and the late KirkstoneMavhera had something to do with the
disappearance.

And strangely, the name of
Edgar Tekere also became linked with thedisappearance because it was argued
such kind of an act could not havesucceeded without "inside"
assistance.

And throughout the bizarre
incident, Mugabe maintained his trademarkdetachment, as if it was not his
jacket that had been stolen. And thatevening, Gilbert and Kirkstone brought
a few measly mealie-cobs from thevillage, hardly able to stand, plastered
blind with mudzepete, a potentconcoction even the villagers were reluctant
to drink, fermented from thesap of the roots and fruit of some wild
tree.

And we shared the cobs and Robert
Mugabe politely received his shareas if he did not know it was the prize of
his maroon jacket. Perhaps he nolonger remembers some of these tiny details,
but I do. The man was a myth.

To kill the
boredom and forget a bit about the gnawing hunger and thestifling
hopelessness, we stayed permanently high on mbanje (marijuana) thatwe got
cheaply from the villages and it worried
him.

"I know we are going through a tough
time," he told us one morning,"but it will be over
soon."

"Once we get to our own camps in
Tanzania, you will forget you havebeen through
this."

He smiled, one of the few times he
ever did.

"In Tanzania, there are vast
fields of dagga (marijuana), but ofcourse the smoking is strictly
controlled."

We looked at him sceptically
through glazed eyes.

The teacher was
advising us to reserve our energy for the huge blow inTanzania! Of course,
there was nothing like that there.

He was
afraid we were slowly approaching the
edge.

In fact, Freddy (he is now an
officer in the army) slipped over theedge and for a month we kept him
chained to a tree.

And every night we sat
around a fire, holding our lice-infestedclothes over the flames to kill the
rampant parasites and I remember thatwas the only time he ever mentioned his
stolen jacket when he joked that forhim, it was minus one item to hold over
the fire to burn the lice.

It was an
incredible time, he was an extraordinary
man.

Then one afternoon as we went down
the river to fetch water for ourevening meal, he told us, without anybody
asking him, that he had dedicatedhis life to see that no one in Zimbabwe was
disadvantaged on the basis oftheir skin colour and that everyone had access
to the resources of thecountry.

When I
look at him now - 23 years later - the man has not changedbecause what he
told us then is still what he is saying
now.

Perhaps the only difference is,
whereas he was telling the odd 40 orso of us then, he is telling an entire
nation now.

For me, programmes like land
reform and affirmative action, in spiteof their teething problems and
sometimes glaring weaknesses, are all part ofthe focus that he told us
during that time.

Doris Lessing, like so
many other people including the Britishgovernment, argue that the problems
facing Zimbabwe are a result of badgovernance on the part of Robert
Mugabe.

I have just a single question to
ask: How come this crisis of badgovernance only surfaced during the last
five years to coincide with theaccelerated land reform programme when in
1994, Queen Elizabeth II hadconferred knighthood on Mugabe on the
recommendation of the same
Britishgovernment?

What calamity had
befallen Zimbabwe between 1995 and the formation ofthe MDC (to rescue the
country from the calamity we are told) except theland reform
programme?

It is true that the country is
faced with enormous problems, but tosay, as Lessing does, that it is all
because of Robert Mugabe is notentirely
correct.

Every one of us must accept the
part we are playing in bringing aboutthe "disgrace, dishonour and ruin" that
Lessing says the country has become.

For
instance, we must accept that the sanctions that some of us calledfor and
are openly supporting are contributing immensely to the mess that wefind
ourselves in.

We must also accept that the
black market and the rampant shortageswere not entirely created by price
controls, but by manufacturers as theyavoided the formal system and those
among us who quickly emptied the shelvesof the few commodities that trickled
there in order to make that
extradollar.

Yes, Robert Mugabe is all
sorts of things to all sorts of people, butI think what is important to
realise is that he is also human
withweaknesses.

I don't think he is a
frightened man, as Lessing says - no. Taking acountry through such a
difficult and turbulent time like the one we aregoing through requires a lot
of courage and decisiveness and certainly
notfear.

As for Tekere, well, the man
has lived exactly the way we whisperedduring the nights as we tried to hurry
sleep, for once to dream eating afull-bloodied meal, perhaps chicken and
rice, but unfortunately, such dreamsnever came: only horrible nightmares of
ambushes by the Rhodesians.

A few weeks
ago I made a small contribution to The Daily News about aconversation that I
had had with a white commercial farmer and it generateda lot of
debate.

One lady phoned to say it was
untrue that the blacks that whitesreally knew are farm labourers and
domestic workers. The blacks in DorisLessing's classical novel, The Grass is
Singing, are all farm labourers!

The school holidays have started in Zimbabwe
and there was an almost audible nationwide sigh of relief. It's been a
chaotic three months of school for parents when every day we've struggled
to find bread to put in the lunch box, battled to afford the most basic of
stationery let alone replacement items of uniforms or school shoes.
Talking to other mums on the last day of term it was tragic
to have to say final good-byes to yet more black and white
families who are emigrating because they simply cannot afford to support their
families and educate their children here. Some are going to the UK, others to
Botswana and South Africa and some to Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
Living with shortages of basic foodstuffs and surviving a 220% inflation rate is
a nightmare. Things that we always took for granted are either not
available or have become luxury items and it gets harder and harder to keep our
children healthy, let alone provide them with occasional treats. The stress of
living like this, day after day wears you down so much that in the end it's
easier to just leave. The skills drain from the country is now very noticeable
and has affected every aspect of our lives - from teachers, doctors, vets and
lawyers to engineers, electricians and plumbers.

For me the biggest relief of the end of the school
term was finding the petrol to actually get Richard there every day. Fuel
shortages throughout the country have bought us almost to a standstill.
Yesterday, with my car running on the smell of an oil rag, I joined a massive
petrol queue in Marondera town. It's the first time there's been a queue for
over two weeks and people are getting pretty desperate. I don't know how far
back I was in the line but I couldn't even see the petrol station and guessed at
about 50 cars ahead of me. Usually I find things to amuse myself with in the
queue but after 4 hours I'd written my newspaper column, read two magazines from
cover to cover and got hotter and hotter until sweat dripped out of every pore.
It wasn't the usual friendly queue either because when people get desperate the
law of the jungle takes over. At least ten vehicles pushed into the queue during
my four and a half hour wait. You feel like a helpless pawn when a car just
pulls up alongside you , blocks your path and then pushes in. It doesn't matter
how close you get to the car in front - these queue jumpers are professionals,
they get a man to stand in front of you and short of physically running him
over you have to sit and watch as a car pushes in front of you. There were a lot
of angry voices and one exchange which almost ended in physical violence but it
seems if you use the name of the ruling political party you can get away
with anything in Zimbabwe. I never did reach the front of the queue, the petrol
ran out and I got home hot, exhausted and extremely depressed just before
dark.

Like the rest of the world we've been watching the
Iraq war and cannot help but compare the situation there with that in
Zimbabwe. When a political party infiltrates every single aspect
of society, ordinary people become completely and utterly helpless.
The government, either directly through their Ministers and officials, or
indirectly through their secret police, war veterans, youth brigades or security
personnel control almost everything in Zimbabwe. They control the telephones and
television, the railways and airport, the food supply and it's distribution, the
electricity and water, the fuel and gas. They now occupy and control almost all
of the land, nature reserves and conservancies. Anyone who gets in their way is
simply stamped on and the Minister of Information just goes on and on peddling
his propaganda. Seeing TV images of underground cells and torture chambers in
Baghdad and hearing people tell of their relatives who were tortured,
disappeared or died in the bowels of these state institutions is chillingly
familiar. Of particular interest to us here is what happened to all those Iraqi
Ministers and state agents and supporters when they finally realised their time
was up. Where did they run to, where are they hiding, will they ever be made to
answer for their crimes against their own brothers and sisters. Or
will they be given sanctuary in other countries like Mengistu is in
Zimbabwe or Idi Amin - wherever he is?

Zimbabwe hasn't got oil or any other vital natural
wealth so we don't expect anyone to come roaring in to help us but still we cry
out for help - what else can we do. Until next week, with love, cathy. Copyright
cathy buckle 12th April 2003. http://africantears.netfirms.com

FUELPower Fuels inform us that the information which we
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The following information is
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+/-10 US cents per litretransport to be paid direct to supplier and
transporter.Local component covering duties, levies, insurance etc - Z$26.74
per litre.Contact Stubbs Chifodwa, Marketing Director,Power Fuels on
799407/8 for further information.

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Harare - A
Zimbabwean soldier in the British army, who died this weekserving in Iraq,
has been condemned as a "mercenary" and a "sell-out" byPresident Robert
Mugabe's state media.

The British ministry of defence confirmed this week
that Christopher Muzvuru(21) of the Irish Guards had been killed on Sunday
in Basra.

He was the first of a small contingent of Zimbabweans serving
in the Britisharmed forces to be killed in the Iraq war.

The Daily
Mirror, owned by a member of the ruling Zanu-PF party, urged thatauthorities
to bar Muzvuru's body from being returned home for burial.

"It should be
buried in Britain, the country that he chose to die for," thenewspaper
said.

"For a Zimbabwean, whose country is virtually at war with Britain
over landredistribution, to join the armed forces of an 'enemy' who is
literallybesieging your country is the highest level of selling
out."

"Buffalo soldier," read a cartoon of the dead soldier, in a
reference to thenickname of an American post-civil war cavalry regiment made
up of blacksthat was used to fight Indians as settlers swept to occupy the
west of thecontinent.

Muzvuru was among the thousands of young
Zimbabweans who fled Zimbabwe inthe last three years of lawlessness, violent
state repression and economiccollapse to find a future in
Britain.

The defence ministry said he enlisted in the army in February
2001, andbecame a member of the Irish Guards' First Battalion bagpipe band
aftertraining as a piper in the Piping School in Edinburgh.

According
to Zimbabwean education authorities, between 15 and 20 youngZimbabweans of
all races, mostly from the country's elite private schools,are accepted into
the British army each year.

The state-controlled media has portrayed the
American and British war on theIraqi regime as a "neo-imperialist invasion"
aimed solely at seizing thecountry's oil assets.

State television has
suppressed coverage of the Iraq war, and mostZimbabweans - except for the
tiny minority able to afford satellitetelevision - were denied the
extraordinary footage of thousands of Iraqisjoyously toppling statues and
taking off their shoes to beat portraits oftheir erstwhile leader. -
Sapa-DPA

Harare - Zimbabwe's opposition cranked up an
anti-government publicitycampaign yesterday ahead of a new round of planned
protests against theincreasingly authoritarian rule of President Robert
Mugabe. The oppositionMovement for Democratic Change placed advertisements
in two independentnewspapers warning of growing frustration among the people
of the country.An advertisement in the independent Daily News warned of
public anger andpossible retribution against officials, troops and police
seen to be"sustaining and oiling the dictatorship" of Mugabe. It also listed
severalousted African and foreign dictators who fled their countries but
leftbehind their functionaries, supporters and beneficiaries. "If you
aresupporting the dictatorship in Zimbabwe today, it is important to know
youwill be left alone to look after yourself and your family,"
theadvertisement said. The opposition has said it is determined to proceed
withplanned protests despite a crackdown on government opponents and the
arrestsof several opposition leaders in the wake of last month's
successfulanti-government strike. Two other bold colour advertisements
appearedyesterday in the weekly Financial Gazette showing photographs of
victims ofalleged beatings and torture by state agents and soldiers under
the words"Change demands action". Police Commissioner Augustine Chihuri
dismissed theadvertisements as "intimidation" against his officers. "They
want to instilfear in members of the security forces and their families. It
won't work,"he said. Opposition spokesman Paul Themba Nyathi, meanwhile, was
releasedyesterday on the order of high court judge Mathios Cheda in
Bulawayo. He wasarrested on Monday under the nation's strict security laws
for hisinvolvement in organising the anti-government strike. The
governmentdeclared the strike illegal. Cheda said the police failed to
justifyNyathi's continued detention and ordered him released without charge
to besummoned back to court later if required, Nyathi's lawyer Nicholas
Mathonsi said.

THE late Archbishop Patrick
Chakaipa, reputedly a friend of PresidentRobert Mugabe, was vehemently
opposed to the Zanu PF leader's violent landseizures, an investigation by
The Standard has established.

Top
clergymen within the Roman Catholic Church said Chakaipa had beendeeply
concerned at the wanton destruction Mugabe's land reform programmehad
caused.

Chakaipa who died on Tuesday last
week aged 70, "unwaveringlysupported the equal distribution of land", senior
members of the Catholicchurch said but, like his colleagues in the church
leadership, was stronglyconcerned about the violent manner in which it was
being implemented.

Father Walter
Nyatsanza, the secretary general of the ZimbabweCatholic Bishops'
Conference, said at the time of his death Chakaipa wasconcerned about the
violence, disunity and social breakdown that Mugabe'sland reforms had
caused.

"He was very strongly concerned
about the situation the country findsitself in. He had always been committed
to the resolution of the landdistribution imbalance. However, he was
concerned with the manner in whichthe programme was being implemented, which
had led to violence," saidNyatsanza.

In his condolence message, Mugabe claimed that Chakaipa-who solemnisedhis
marriage to Grace Marufu in 1996-had supported his chaotic land reformsand
used the opportunity of the message to launch an attack on clergymen whohave
publicly condemned the exercise.

"Chakaipa's stance on the land question was unambiguous and wouldforever
remain a quiet admonition to his peers who chose the side of theunjust and
the selfish," Mugabe was quoted as saying by the state-controlledHerald
newspaper.

Within the local Catholic
leadership, Pius Ncube-the Bishop ofBulawayo-has openly criticised Mugabe's
violent and chaotic land seizures,thus earning himself the wrath of the
79-year-old Zanu PF leader.

Ncube said
that although Chakaipa-usually a very reserved person-hadnot been too keen
on publicly commenting on the chaos resulting from thegovernment's
destruction of agriculture, he had nevertheless been
againstit.

Said Ncube: "He was against
the violent land seizures although henever publicly commented on them. He
wished for the day when the blackpeople in the communal areas would be
relieved from the congestion. Healways regretted that in most communal areas
people plough just by theirhuts. He, however, condemned the violence that is
associated with the landreform."

Bishop Patrick Mutume of the Mutare diocese, said: "He had thegrassroots
people at heart. As a result, he was deeply concerned about thecrisis in the
country because it affects the grassroots people more thananyone else. He
was saddened by the violence characterising the land reformprogramme and its
heavy impact on the grassroots people."

Mugabe's chaotic land reforms, embarked upon abruptly after therejection of
his party's constitutional proposals in February 2000, claimedhundreds of
lives as ragtag armies of so-called war veterans invaded andviolently took
over former white commercial farms.

Meanwhile, the Catholic Church says mass will be held for the lateArchbishop
today at the St Mary's Cathedral in Harare and will be followedby body
viewing. He will be buried at Chishawasha Mission
tomorrow.

MASVINGO: All is not well within
the Josiah Hungwe faction of Zanu PFwith reports that Samuel Mumbengegwi,
the party's provincial chairman, hasdefected to the rival faction of former
minister, Eddison Zvobgo.

Hungwe, who has
the backing of Vice President Simon Muzenda, arelative of his, has fought a
long and bitter turf war over control of ZanuPF's Masvingo Province, with
Zvobgo, once considered the heir apparent ofPresident Robert
Mugabe.

Mumbengegwi, the minister of
Industry and International Trade who isregarded as the protege and "home
boy" of Hungwe-the governor of theprovince-led a crusade to weaken Zvobgo's
political influence in Masvingotwo years
ago.

With the assistance of Foreign
Affairs minister Stan Mudenge, deputyminister of Youth, Gender and
Employment Creation Shuvai Mahofa and ChiefFortune Charumbira, Mumbengegwi
went around the province setting up partyexecutive structures loyal to
Hungwe and ensuring that the faction, whichalso enjoys the support of
Mugabe, had total control of Masvingo.

The
Standard has, however, learnt that Hungwe is bitter about "homeboy"
Mumbengegwi's apparent move to the Zvobgo
faction.

Hungwe fought tooth and nail to
help Mumbengegwi-then a politicalnonentity on the fractious provincial
political landscape-to win the ChiviNorth parliamentary seat in the 2000
general elections. Mumbengegwi wassubsequently appointed a minister in
Mugabe's Cabinet.

Hungwe is also credited
with having ensured that Mumbengegwi took overthe Zanu PF Masvingo
provincial chairmanship after he cooked up a plot whichled to the then
chairman Dzikamai Mavhaire, a member of the Zvobgo faction,being
unceremoniously removed from office by a section of independence warveterans
under the leadership of the militant Edmore
Hwarari.

Zanu PF's secretary for
information and publicity in the MasvingoProvince, Raymond Takavarasha-a
member of the Hungwe faction-confirmed thatall was not well within the
party.

"I don't understand what is really
going on between Governor Hungweand the chairman Mumbengegwi, but what I can
confirm is that chiefs,headmen, village heads and thousands of followers of
the Hungwe faction aredemanding that Mumbengegwi makes his position clear
before the forthcomingZanu PF provincial elections," Takavarasha told The
Standard.

Already, chiefs, headmen,
councillors and village heads in the Chividistrict have petitioned Hungwe to
"deal" with Mumbengwegwi, he added.

THE police and some Zanu PF-led
town councillors, are allegedlyconniving to bar the Zimbabwe Congress of
Trade Unions (ZCTU) from holdingits traditional Workers' Day celebrations at
some national stadiums, TheStandard has
learnt.

The ZCTU, the country's largest
labour union, last week complainedthat there was evidence of a concerted
effort by the police and ZanuPF-dominated town councils in Chinhoyi, Kadoma
and Mutare, to stop the unionfrom staging the customary May Day
commemorations.

The ZCTU alleges that the
venues are being hired out to its rival, theZanu PF-aligned Zimbabwe
Federation of Trade Unions (ZFTU) led by warveteran and former security
guard, Joseph Chinotimba.

Tapiwa
Chishakwe, the ZCTU vice-chairman for Manicaland province,accused the Mutare
Town Council of throwing into turmoil their preparationsfor the Workers' Day
event.

He said the city's authorities were
plotting to repeat last year'sfiasco when at the very last minute, the go
ahead for celebrations atSakubva Stadium was granted to the ZFTU instead of
the ZCTU.

Chishakwe said: "The decision to
frustrate us in this manner isapparently politically-motivated. The ZCTU has
for long been associated withthe opposition Movement for Democratic Change
(MDC), and it is feared thateveryone affiliated to them is an MDC
supporter.

"We have been applying to the
Mutare City Council for a venue sinceFebruary but time and again, the
authorities have come up with some flimsyexcuse to deny us the right to hold
an event which is observed across theentire
globe."

He said the council had refused to
grant them a venue on the groundsthat the ZCTU should have first sought
police clearance, while the policefor their part, were reluctant to issue
the clearance on the grounds that itwas
"unnecessary".

"Some of our members
actually work for the Mutare City Council andthey are alleging that they are
being victimised, and that there have beeninstructions from top council
officials to frustrate our efforts to hireSakubva Stadium and to reserve it
for the ZFTU instead," said Chishakwe.

The
ZCTU was again denied an early booking for Chinhoyi Stadium. Theyhad applied
for the venue in January.

March Makanya,
the ZCTU chairman for Chinhoyi, said on makingenquiries at the town council
early last month, they were told that thestadium was free but that a booking
had to be made at a later stage.However, they were exasperated to later
learn that the venue had beengranted to the
ZFTU.

"The town authorities here are
playing hide and seek with us. We werethe first to request the venue and yet
they have discarded us in favour ofthe pro-Zanu PF ZFTU," said
Makanya.

"These are all political gimmicks
meant to frustrate the workers. Thissituation may now force us to use Cook's
Hall which is too small for ourlarge membership," added
Makanya.

ZCTU secretary general Wellington
Chibhebhe accused the police ofemploying political strategies to bar his
union from celebrating May Daywith the
workers.

"There are people within the
police force who will not clear us tohold our celebrations in Mutare, Kadoma
and Chinhoyi because they hold amyopic judgmental position that we (the
ZCTU) are purely MDC.

"It is baffling for
the police in Mutare and Chinhoyi to refuse toco-operate with us when
everywhere else, the police have been veryforthcoming. We suspect that it is
part of the ZFTU strategy to destroy theZCTU as they were loudly instructed
to do by Zanu PF last year," saidChibhebhe.

BULAWAYO-Pandemonium broke out at a
field day in Bubi district onWednesday when angry Inkosikazi villagers
vehemently disputed claims byMatabeleland North governor, Obert Mpofu, that
the government was providingthem with cash under the food-for-work relief
programme.

Mpofu, who was the guest of
honour at a field day of the AgriculturalRecovery Programme (ARP), organised
by World Vision-a relief organisationthat is assisting vulnerable
communities with farming inputs-was stunnedwhen villagers openly challenged
his claims.

In a glowing speech about how
his government was helping the starvingmasses, Mpofu said: "We embarked on
the food for work programme in a bid toassist Zimbabweans throughout the
country in fending for their families. Themoney that villagers are getting
in this programme is going a long way inassisting their
plight..."

Mpofu had hardly finished
delivering his speech when angry villagersinterrupted him, vehemently
dismissing his claims that they were being paidfor the
work.

"We are tired of hearing the same
old song because we have waitedpatiently for our payment but to no avail,"
shouted one frustrated villager.

"Ask the
councillor of Ward Seven, she knows what we are talkingabout," shouted
another, to a chorus of approval from the
rest.

Yet another unimpressed villager had
this to say: "We engaged in thisprogramme because we are hungry, but if the
council decides to pocket themoney we have sweated for, that will be very
unfair. How are we going tofeed our
families?"

To save face, Mpofu said he
would raise the matter with the council.

"I didn't know that you were not getting your payments but I will lookinto
the matter with the councillors," said the
governor.

Under the food for work
programme, villagers are supposed to do manualwork such as repairing roads
and low level bridges in return for cash whichwill enable them to buy
food.

Villagers told The Standard that
they were, however, happy with WorldVision's efforts at empowering
them.

Under the ARF, a body funded by the
Canadian International DevelopmentAgency (CIDA), which donated US$615 000
last year, villagers have receivedagricultural inputs that were previously
hard to come by.

"Since February 2002, we
have embarked on a number of projects thatwill be of assistance to the
community and will empower villagers not torely simply on relief food but
also work hard to feed their families," saidSipho Dube, the national
financial director of World Vision.

At the
function, the Inkosikazi Area Development Programme (ADP)handed over to the
community, agricultural equipment comprising a tractor, aplough and a
trailer, all worth more than $43m.

THE massive and systematic looting
of former white commercial farms,is the work of senior Zanu PF and
government officials, and the land reformprogramme has become chaotic, some
members of the Parliamentary PortfolioCommittee-expected to table its report
to the House next month-haverevealed.

Members of the Portfolio Committee told The Standard that their
reportrevealed "systematic looting" of commercial land by top government
officialsand well connected people, especially those within the ruling Zanu
PF party.

Said one member of the
Parliamentary Portfolio Committee: "Thefindings of the committee after it
went around the provinces, were that theland reform programme was utterly
chaotic. Top government officials andwell-connected people have used their
influence to grab rich farmland at theexpense of the landless people. We are
ready to table the report when theHouse resumes sitting next
month."

President Robert Mugabe has tried
to downplay the report whosefindings were leaked to the international media
last month and which createda lot of controversy when reported in the local
media.

Mugabe did acknowledge that all was
not well with the land reformexercise but in an apparent bid to protect his
close colleagues andministers, said he would instigate another land audit
and have the reportpresented to him.

Zimbabwe's land reforms have been blasted by the internationalcommunity and
the United Nations for their lack of transparency and fordestroying what was
once a major agribusiness in Africa.

The
Parliamentary Portfolio Committee's audit, which has been largelyshrouded in
secrecy but whose findings have been partially leaked out, hascreated much
anxiety among Mugabe's inner circle with many of his closestaides, including
some of his family, accused of having grabbed more than onecommercial farm
and of looting others.

Daniel Mackenzie
Ncube, the Zanu PF MP for Zhombe, who heads theportfolio committee, was not
available for comment yesterday.

However,
Innocent Gonese, the chief whip for the opposition Movementfor Democratic
Change, said he hoped the report would be tabled inParliament to shed light
on the manner in which the land issue has
beenhandled.

Said Gonese: "Once the
report has been tabled, we will debate onmatters of principle. We hope that
the Portfolio Committee did its jobproperly and will lay the ground for us
to push for practical solutions onthe controversial manner in which the land
reform was implemented."

Gonese scoffed at
Mugabe's decision to have a second audit that wouldbe handled by his office
and whose participants would report directly
tohim.

"Mugabe's government has never
been serious about its inquiries andaudits. Having another audit whilst
ignoring the first one, is a sheer wasteof time," said
Gonese.

"It is a time-buying gimmick. We
will therefore stand up to ourresponsibility and duty of highlighting the
importance of achieving anurgent solution to the land crisis and of moving
on from there."

Joram Gumbo, the Zanu PF
chief whip said: "I haven't seen the report.I will only respond when it's
tabled. I am aware that there is a lot ofinterest in the land reform
exercise and we hope that the report will answera lot of questions and
clarify issues on the land reform."

BULAWAYO-THE Zimbabwean high
commissioner to Botswana and 70 otherZimbabweans living in that country were
this week summoned to a local courtand warned against engaging in illegal
activities while in that country.

The
latest incident adds to reports of a diplomatic wrangle betweenZimbabwe and
Botswana and is set to worsen the allegedly frosty relationsalready existing
between the nationals of the two
countries.

According to press reports from
Botswana, the Zimbabwean highcommissioner in Gaberone, Phelekezela Mphoko,
was summoned to the Batlokwacustomary court by Chief Moshibisu Gaborone,
where he was forced to addresscompatriots accused of having committed
crimes.

The Tswana allege that Zimbabweans
living in that country or visiting,are engaging in prostitution and other
criminal activities.

During his address,
Mphoko pleaded with Zimbabweans in Botswana tostop their illegal
activities.

"If you misbehave, you must
know that other people are bound to reactthe way they want," warned
Mphoko.

"Why are you practising
prostitution here in Botswana when you knowthat in Zimbabwe it is illegal?
Can't you see that you are destroying thegood name of our
country?"

Chief Gaborone warned
Zimbabweans that if found on the wrong side ofthe law, they would be
severely punished.

The summoning of the
Zimbabweans came after police in that country hadarrested three locals in
connection with a scam involving the illegal saleto foreigners of Botswana
national identity cards.

The Botswana
authorities say they are looking for 11 other Zimbabweansin connection with
the scam.

The Zimbabweans are alleged to
be charging 1 200 Pula for thefraudulent documents which are highly sought
after by Zimbabweans and othernationals such as Nigerians and Congolese, who
are in Botswana illegally butare seeking permanent residence in the
diamond-rich country.

The officer in
charge of national registration in Maha-lapye, DinahMatsha-bo, said they
were alreay investigating 16 cases of Zimbabweansbelieved to have illegally
obtained Botswana identity cards.

INDEPENDENCE Day during
the euphoric 1980s and early 1990s was a daymost Zimbabweans looked forward
to.

The young and the old, the rich and
the poor, would gather at stadiumsaround the country to watch traditional
dancers and magnificent drummajorettes strutting their stuff, but above all,
to drink, eat and makemerry.

Before
the merrymaking, there would be the presidential speech whicheveryone wanted
to listen to because it normally ushered in a new policydirection, or
contained an important statement.

"Nyarara
iwe, tinoda kunzwa kuti President vari kuti kudii (Keepquiet, we want to
hear what the President is saying)," were words commonlyspoken as President
Robert Mugabe either read his speech or someone elsehigh up in government or
the ruling Zanu PF party echelons did so on hisbehalf, in areas outside
Harare.

Eighteenth April was a day which
made Zimbabweans proud to beZimbabwean. Mugabe used the occasion to expound
his policies for thefollowing year.

"Gore rino igore rekugutsa ruzhinji (This is the year to ensure noonegoes
hungry)," he would declare to resounding cheers from the
listeners.

People would even joke about
the tragedies that had occurred atsimilar national events such as the man
who died after falling into a beercontainer, or those seriously injured in
the rush for the abundant free foodat the stadiums. The people would leave
with their stomachs full and withMugabe once again entrenched in their minds
as the real Messiah.

But, as Zanu PF's
economic policies began to hit them hard, thepicture gradually began to
change for many Zimbabweans and Mugabe steadilylost his Messiah status. The
attitude towards Independence Day and Mugabebegan to
change.

Instead of filling up the stadiums
in their thousands by 8.00am, thecrowds began to arrive only around 3.00pm,
not for the Independence Daycelebrations or Mugabe's speech, but for the
free soccer finals arranged forthe
day.

The situation gradually changed from
bad to worse as the economysuffered and the standard of living deteriorated.
Even the free footballmatches could no longer attract as many people as they
used to do.

"Ndinoenda kunoitei. Unoda
kuti ndinorohwa nemasoja," (Why should I gothere. Do you want me to be
beaten by soldiers), said Marko Gusvusvu, aKuwadzana resident still
recovering from injuries sustained after beatingsat the hands of soldiers
during last month's Kuwadzana
parliamentaryby-election.

Zimbabwe is
now a country of queues and many people say they wouldrather spend the day
queuing for petrol, diesel or basic commodities thanlisten to Mugabe's
speech.

Because of mounting poverty,
Zimbabweans find there is no longeranything to celebrate as far as
Independence Day is concerned. Supermarketshelves are empty and basic
commodities like sugar, mealie meal, margarine,cooking oil and bread have
become scarce.

The government has clearly
failed to solve the fuel crisis and willnot do so in the foreseeable future
as long as it retains its internationalpariah
status.

When asked
whether he would contribute some money to the nationalcelebrations as he
would have done before, Gopo said he would only do sowhen the Zanu PF
government was gone.

"They have
impoverished me. How can I give them my hard earned cash?What
for?"

Gopo is not alone. Many of the
people who spoke to The Standard saidit was now meaningless to celebrate
Independence Day.

Others said they
preferred to spend their time at bottle storesdrinking with friends and
talking football, or discussing the woes of
thecountry.

Some said they would take
advantage of the holiday to scout around thecapital for sugar and mealie
meal instead of "wasting time" listening toMugabe's
speech.

"Kangani tichinzi tichazokuitirai
izvi neizvi as zvinganizvakabudirira? (How many times have we been promised
this or that only fornothing to materialise?)" asked a Harare resident,
Fanuel Banda.

The situation is no better
in the rural areas where thousands areexpected to spend the day in queues,
waiting for relief food supplies thatmight never
come.

But it is not just the food
shortages and the petrol queues that worrymany Zimbabweans as the country
turns 23 years of age.

Many in the
townships and the rural areas say they are bound to be atthe mercy of the
ruthless soldiers and policemen, who have been terrorisingthem since the
watershed June 2000 election, which saw the emergence of theopposition
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) as a political force to bereckoned
with.

Zanu PF, like a raging bull, has
vented its anger at the success ofthe MDC, on opposition party supporters
and ordinary Zimbabweans suspectedof being sympathetic towards the new
party.

Zanu PF's notorious militia, known
as Green Bombers, have beenrampaging around the country, killing, raping and
torturing at will, thosethey suspect of being members of the
MDC.

So, save for a privileged few and
those close to the ruling Zanu PFclass, there is very little-if anything at
all-to celebrate as Zimbabweturns 23.

ZIMBABWE is now
all about degradation, deprivation and decimation.Take it from 40 paintings
by Lovemore Kambudzi, Patrick Makumbe and MisheckMasamvu which offer an
extra-ordinary testimony to the socio-political andeconomic state of the
nation. The paintings comprise Gallery Delta'scontribution to Hifa of the
work of young artists.

"The young painters
explore the way people feel and think bypresenting revealing images of what
it means to live with degradation,decimation and deprivation-conditions
which, according to a contemporaryDanish sculptor, Jens Christophersen, give
birth to an animal of very lowinstincts which he calls the 'inner beast',"
says Chiedza Musengezi,director of Zimbabwe Women Writers who visited the
exhibition at GalleryDelta.

Christophersen argues that given the right conditions, the 'innerbeast' can
reside in you and I or any individual anywhere in the world: itattacks the
foundation of one's ethical and moral values so thatintolerance, xenophobia
and racism take over.

Kambudzi, Makumbe
and Masamvu bring us face to face with our "innerbeast". Their paintings
reflect the themes of poverty, destruction and
moraldegradation.

Kambudzi said he
painted the pictures on exhibition because"Handingavanze chokwadi (I can't
hide the truth)".

He presents us with the
reality of the poor conditions of the poor intoday's Zimbabwe, conditions
which do not inspire hope but rather, a violentrejection that has the
potential to generate the physical and emotionalenergy for dealing with the
problem.

Makumbe's paintings convey a deep
concern with eroded morals. Femalefigures dominate his compositions. Nudes,
with make-up on their faces andlarge hoops in their ears, are laid out
before viewers in a variety ofpostures, all of which suggest sexual
availability.

The male figures in
Mukumbe's paintings also reinforce debasement. Theman in the picture, Love
Triangle, wears a black suit and a black hat, holdsa briefcase in one hand
and has two women in lacy bikinis draped on eitherside of him-proof of his
indulgence in sexual pleasures.

Of the
three painters on show, Masamvu best captures the violence anddestruction
that characterised Zimbabwe's preelection period last year whenthe
exhibition was first mounted.

With his
disturbingly powerful images of decapitated heads, severedlimbs, torsos and
blood he condemns the destruction of human life and theuncompromising
harshness of youth. Some of his images are gruesome-but soindeed were some
of the politically motivated events that he
commemorates.

HERE we are on the eve of the
23rd anniversary of our independence.This should be a time for taking stock
of things that would have inevitablygone wrong for a new nation trying to
get used to self determination, and ofcelebrating many other
achievements.

Instead, we find ourselves
at our lowest ebb by just about everyobjective measure. People are weary and
hungry; they are worried; they areafraid. Never has our confidence and self
esteem been so low.

The President remains
largely in hiding, coming out only occasionallyto issue threats against one
group or another. He insists the people arewith him, but does so with little
conviction. He continues to maintain atight grip over them, but at great
cost to himself. The size of theveritable army he travels with everywhere,
continues to grow as he becomesmore afraid of the growing clamour against
him. The people have littleconfidence in their government. Once again, as
before independence, thepolice are becoming more a force for oppression than
for the protection ofthe citizens. They display far more enthusiasm and
skill at arrestingperceived opponents of the government than at preventing
crime.

On the major highways from Harare
to Mutare, Kariba or Bulawayo, itused to be a joy to see all the signs of
agricultural activity as one droveby. Now, one sees more grass and weeds
than anything else on what used to beprime productive farmland. It will take
many years to recover this lostproductivity, as we are still more on the
path of destruction
thanreconstruction.

Zimbabwe is now
one of the very few countries in the world in whichyou cannot just drive up
to a service station and fill up your vehicle withfuel. Days spent in long
queues for the basics of a modern economy, petroland diesel, have become the
norm. All our towns have become filthy andunkempt. Grocery shelves are
either largely empty, or are filled with rowsof just two or three products
because of the shortage of so many differentthings. Prices go up by large
margins, by the week.

Rape, torture,
arbitrary arrest and beatings are now common placeinstruments of humiliation
and control, often committed by agents of thestate. There is no where that
one can go to go to seek reprieve from theseabuses because those who should
be protecting us are the ones we have reasonto be most afraid
of.

A few thrive on the chaos of a
distorted, dysfunctional economy, butthe vast majority lose ground every
day. More people are unemployed asincreasing numbers of companies shut down.
The productivity of the few whoare employed continues to decline because of
time lost searching for fuel,hours spent in queues for transport to and from
work, and the stress of thegrowing number of financial obligations they
cannot meet.

What kind of "independence"
is this? Certainly, we continue to behappy that we are no longer ruled by
foreigners, but the quality of theindependence we experience under the
vicious, incompetent rule of Mugabe isfar lower than we are entitled to as
sons and daughters of the soil. Whymust I be afraid of telling a cruel
despot he is bloody useless? Mugabe isjust an ordinary person, munhu
zvakewo. Nothing but a man. We did not expectthat so soon after experiencing
racial tyranny we would again be living infear for our thoughts and
words.

Twenty three years after
"independence" there are many ways in whichwe are not free. We have far more
uncertainty in virtually all aspects ofour lives than ever before. Even
those who are relatively well to do mustnow barricade themselves in their
homes, making them virtual prisons,because of the lawlessness that Mugabe
has spawned in his bid to intimidateand control us in order to retain power.
At the same time, he and hiscronies nauseatingly talk about "the rule of
law, law and order." That ruleof law is so arbitrarily and cynically
applied, few people respect it. Howcan we, when many of the law makers and
implementers are themselves knowncriminals; thieves, liars, rapists,
murderers? We know who you are, your dayof reckoning is
coming.

"Independence" not only means
freedom from foreign domination, it alsoimplies dignity. Yet we are losing
our dignity as a people as we suffer moredeprivation under the regime of
Mugabe. We work harder, but fall furtherbehind because of a skewed economy.
We try to be honest, but see ourselvesbeing laughed at and left behind by
the crooks who rule us and theirrelatives and associates. There is no
dignity in having to drive all over acity looking for bread or milk, and
then having to sheepishly queue for it,only to be told that day's allotment
is finished, or to be scolded like achild for daring to ask for more than
two units of the item. This is not howindependence is supposed to look like,
23 years later.

So crude and contemptuous
of the people is the independence governmentthat we are fed a diet of the
most moronic lies, in the state media. Theconspiracy theories and propaganda
are so outlandish, and so at odds withwhat we see and experience for
ourselves, that you are shocked and offendedat its insulting stupidity. We
are treated like fools by our government, andwe have become the laughing
stock of the world.

Nor is there relief
from the taint of the indignities we experience byemigrating. There is the
large extended family left behind whose safety andholistic well-being must
be a constant source of worry. Then there is theever-present stain of being
forced to run away from one's homeland becauseyou have failed to make it
work for yourself, and as a people. You cannotdivorce yourself from the
shame.

We will mark the 23rd anniversary
of no longer being ruled by theBritish, but let us be honest, there is not
much to celebrate this year.While reconstruction will take the concerted
efforts of all of us after weeventually hit bottom and begin to rise again,
we will simply not be able toeven begin to look up as long as President
Mugabe rules us because of hisnegative legacy and alienation from so much of
the world.

Pity poor Zimbabwe, we hoped
for and deserve a better "independence"than this.

THERE is no doubt that
the best independence present Zimbabweansexpect on Friday as the country
turns 23 is a statement from PresidentRobert Mugabe that he has failed and
is finally calling it quits.

Sadly, there
is more likelihood for the sun to rise in the West-or asVice President Simon
Muzenda would say "for donkeys to grow horns"-than forGushungo to do the
most honourable thing that would for once have himcommended the world
over.

Mugabe still boasts that he is as
fit as a fiddle, "or two at least",as he says, and is obviously oblivious of
the resentment Zanu PF hasgenerated among Zimbabweans whose lot has worsened
since he came into powerall those years
ago.

He remains like the ostrich that has
buried its head in the sand andlistens only to the lies peddled to him by
the spy Central IntelligenceOrganisation and his close advisers who tell him
Zimbabweans still love himto bits and expect him to rule
forever.

Does Mugabe ever ask these spooks
why, if he is that popular, they don't allow him to walk freely along the
streets of Harare, or any other city?Unlike in 1980, or even 10 years later
in 1990, we now have to queue foralmost everything and that has made people
angry.

We queue for food; we queue for
petrol and diesel, and we even queueto be buried. That is the state of the
nation under Mugabe, 23 years on.

Of
course, Mugabe and his henchmen will boast that they brought usindependence,
but everyone knows the independence struggle was a collectiveeffort that
involved almost every Zimbabwean family.

They will also boast that they brought us free education and freehealth and
that is why we are so educated that Blair's UK companies cansteal personnel
from Zimbabwe.

These are empty boasts.
Where is the free health system now? Where isthe free education? Why are
young, well-educated Zimbabweans fleeing thecountry in their droves to the
UK and South Africa, among other
countries?

It is against this background
of gross mismanagement of the Zimbabweaneconomy that the people look to the
opposition Movement for DemocraticChange (MDC) for salvation, at least by
the next independence anniversary.

It is
inevitable that there should be a lot of soul searching withinthe MDC on
which action to take against Mugabe, especially after thesuccessful two-day
stayaway last month.

It is clear that
within the ranks of the opposition party there arethose who yearn for the
most decisive way to deal with Zanu PF, which, forthem, means organising a
major confrontation with the ruling party thatwould be led by the
people.

This camp believes that the only
message Zanu PF and Mugabe understandis a massive showdown of strength: a
people's power protest of the magnitudethat removed despots like Ferdinand
Marcos and Slobodan Milosevic
frompower.

The other camp within the
MDC still feels that there is scope to talkto Zanu PF and Mugabe and make
them see reason and perhaps agree to somepower sharing arrangement of some
sort.

This group is of the opinion that
enough pressure-exerted bothinternally and externally-can drag the Zanu PF
leader screaming and kickingto the negotiation table that he scorned last
year.

While it is always better to "jaw
jaw than to war war", experience hasshown that Mugabe regards every other
Third World leader-except perhapsMuammar Gadaffi, Fidel Castro and Mahathir
Muhammad-with disdain; if notutter
contempt.

Despite what many South African
politicians, and others in the MDC,might believe about Thabo Mbeki's
perceived influence over Mugabe, the truthis that the Zanu PF leader has no
respect for any of the current crop ofAfrican
leaders.

He sees them as protégés of
British Prime Minister Tony Blair andUnited States President George W Bush
and therefore, easily manipulated bythe Western countries, his bitter
enemies.

So there we are Zimbabweans: at
23 years of age, our country is in aterrible
mess.

We are being led by a ruthless
regime that will only relinquish powerthrough excessive force, and nothing
else.

On the other hand, we have an
opposition party that is divided overwhether to confront Mugabe with a
massive show of people power or try toengage him in reconciliation
talks.

OVER The Top is under the weather.
Even events in Iraq where anothergrotesque dictator met his demise, if not
his maker, has failed to raise
thespirits.

Further appearances by
that country's delightful, charming and eruditemisinformation minister may
have helped, but that wasn't to be. Thegentleman, who must surely now be the
heartthrob of millions ofdysfunctional women the world over, took to his
heals at the last moment.(At least two women of OTT's once close
acquaintance are reported to bejetting off to Syria even as you read this,
hoping the first-classfabricator has sought refuge in that neighbouring
dictatorship. Good luck tothem.)

Still, you have to give him due praise. He cut it extraordinarily fineand
the world will have to credit him, not just with being able to lie
withadmirable panaché (a splendid quality in that line of business), but
withtruly heroic bravery.

He is,
without doubt, the winner of OTT's award for Excellence inMisinformation.
Were OTT a dysfunctional woman, as opposed to adysfunctional man, the race
to find him would surely be on.

One could
learn a great deal from someone who denies the Yanks arecoming when they are
clearly visible on the other side of the river. And thelies.Never in my
entire existence of listening to lies spewing forth frommisinformation
ministers have I heard anything quite so marvelously,courageously put
forth.

And quite apart from anything else,
he provided welcome relief fromthe misinformation minister in a troubled
central African country. Thatgentleman's latest wheeze, surely the weirdest
even in the realm of weirdpolitics, is to accuse the More Drink Coming party
of hiring soldiers tobeat up its own
members.

It's one thing to lie with a
straight face, but it's another to be sowildly implausible that even your
own government winces withembarrassment-as happened last week in the
troubled central African regime.

If the
minister of misinformation in the troubled central Africandictatorship
thought he was taking lessons from his Iraqi counterpart, hewas sadly
deluded. That man in Iraq was the master, while his troubledcentral African
counterpart is struggling in the remedial class formisinformation ministers
with learning difficulties.

And if you
doubt such a class exists, just go back to last week'spapers and read those
ridiculous stories.

Still, despite all
this hilarity, Over The Top remains under theweather. Even witnessing a
failed Zany party riot failed to lift thespirits. Actually, that's not
exactly true. The failed riot was impossibleto witness because it failed, so
there was nothing to witness.

And while
the sight of Mr Sadly Insane's statues being toppled acrossIraq while
gleeful sons of the sand danced and spat on his likeness liftedthe mood, the
delight was short lived.

True, the
troubled central African country has been gripped of late bynational ennui
and depression, but even that's not it. Sorry. Actually, OTTfinds the
troubled central African nation a splendid place to live. Fewplaces on the
planet offer the same opportunity to study weird politics,partisan policing
and free booting as the troubled central African country,so it has to be
good.

Besides, it has to be studied now,
because while Sadly Insane'sstatues may be falling fast in Iraq, the Zany
party, which has no statuesbecause it can't afford them, seems destined to
follow sooner rather thanlater.